Field of the Invention
A rotary grinding mill that increases the effectiveness of the grinding process and the collection process, while minimizing the noise, air pollution and vibration generated by the grinding mill.
Prior Art
The invention relates to a grinding mill. A grinding mill is the process of applying a mechanical force to a grain to overcome the interior bonding forces of the grain. The mechanical force causes the grain to break into smaller pieces. Grinding food serves several purposes such as increasing the flavor, the texture, and nutritional value of the food.
The concept of grinding or milling food particles dates to prehistoric man. Currently, there are several different types of grinding mills available. One very popular type of grinding mill is a rotary mill that comprises two grinding discs contained within a housing unit. Generally, there is a stationary grinding disc that has radially spaced concentric rows of blades extending from the face of the disc. A second rapidly rotational grinding disc that also has radially spaced concentric rows of blades extending from the face of the rotating grinding disc. The blades from the stationary grinding disc, and the blades from the rotating grinding disc are oriented in such that the concentric rows of blades of the rotation disc are disposed between the concentric rows of blades of the stationary disc thereby provide alternating rows of radially spaced blades.
Rotary mills have several limitations. One such limitation is the excess noise and vibration. The noise and vibration are generally created by the motor, the movement of the grinding disc, and the sounds of the material being milled. In addition, rotary mills are very bulky and cumbersome to store. Another problem is the poor results from the grinding method. Generally, users prefer the grain to be uniformly and finely ground. When food particles have not reached the desired size, the users may be required to send the food products through the mill several times before achieving the correct results. Lastly, the milling process creates an excessive amount of fine particles which are exhausted into the air. All these limitations have caused users to stop using rotary mills.
Several prior inventions have made attempt to overcome these limitations. In Scott, U.S. Pat. No. 4,422,578 attempted to resolve the limitation of particles suspended in the air. Scott provided an exhaust device that created a helical movement of the air. In addition, Scott added a foam filter. However, the helical movement of the air as taught in Scott was not effective and the foam filter becomes quickly clogged. Also, Scott did not even attempt to eliminate the other limitations of rotary mills.
Scott-Black, U.S. Pat. No. 5,660,339 attempted to improve the quality of the grinding mill by controlling the amount of grain fed to the milling disc. Scott-Black showed a method for controlling the volume of grain fed into the milling discs. Scott-Black included a feed tube which a user could adjust to control the flow of grain. However, the feed tub was separate from the control switches, and requires the mill to create vibration to allow the grain to feed through the tube. Scott-Black did include a collection system that used a revised helical movement of air and a foam filter to separate particles from the discharged air. While the Scott-Black invention did remove more particles than Scott, it is still not effective enough to prevent the foam filter become clogged frequently. Thus, requiring the foam filter to be removed and cleaned excessively. Scott-Black failed to teach anything that would address the limitation of noise, vibrations, or storage. In Scott-Black, the mill actually describes a method to create an unbalance milling disc to create vibrations. The additional vibration resulted in additional noise. Scott-Black also added a collection container, thus adding to the limitation of minimizing the area required to store the mill.
Although the prior art did attempt to minimize the described limitations, the prior art did not resolve the limitation adequately. In spite of the previous efforts, there remains a need for a rotary mill that improves the grinding process that creates a uniform, finely milled grain, that limits the noise and vibration, decreases the air particles discharged, and is minimizes the area required to store the mill.